


A Bad Place to Cry

by PunQueen



Series: Ally's List of Places [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers Compound, Awesome Maria Hill, Bucky Barnes is good with Kids, Gen, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Natasha Romanov, Protective Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:21:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27498622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PunQueen/pseuds/PunQueen
Summary: Bucky Barnes hears an odd sound. What happens when he finds a five-year-old crying in a supply closet?
Series: Ally's List of Places [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2010916
Comments: 21
Kudos: 44





	A Bad Place to Cry

**Author's Note:**

> This idea would not leave me alone, please enjoy. I'm hoping I'll be able to add more later, but I guess this is a one-shot for now. Which feels weird because I've never done one of these, please give me feedback.

Bucky and Steve had just finished monitoring training for one of their newer cohorts. It was nothing too strenuous, a sparring day to test how their skills had developed. The pair were walking through the compound, deep in discussion, when they passed a supply closet. 

Bucky, who had been walking nearest to the wall, stopped. “Keep talking,” he told Steve. 

“What’s-” Bucky held a finger to his lips, before gesturing for Steve to carry on with the previous discussion. Steve raised an eyebrow but did so anyways.

Bucky pressed an ear to the door. Quiet hiccoughs reached his ears once more. He frowned and cracked the door open. The person inside held their breath quickly. 

It was empty. It looked that way, at least. He might’ve been fooled if he hadn’t heard something. Something that he was certain was crying. The space was barely large enough for one person. One adult person, maybe. 

The bucket on his left clattered loudly when kicked. He had to give the kid kudos, they hadn’t been as startled as he would’ve expected. Bucky took another look around the closet.

“Bucky, what’re you doing?” asked Steve finally. 

“Something,” he said. The things on the top few shelves were small, and even though the things on the middle shelves were larger, they were well placed. Which left two sections- the side without shelving, or the floors.

“Could you be more specific?” Steve asked as Bucky kneeled. 

He heard it. From the right corner, something scraped lightly, like a shoe brushing across the dusty floor. He stared at the bright orange cones. “Are you planning on coming out?” he asked. “Because otherwise I could empty this closet until you have nowhere to hide, but that’d take a lot of time, don’t you think?” 

Steve shot him a confused look. The kid didn’t move. “Buck, what are you talking about?” 

Bucky pulled a few cones back, but he caught the slightest bit of movement towards a stack of signs in the corner nearest to the door. The kid was going to make a run for it. “You know, I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t make me look like an idiot in front of Captain America.” Still nothing. “You don’t want to come out and meet him?” 

Steve raised his eyebrows, stepping into the small space, which left the door partially unblocked. “Buck, there’s no one-” 

The kid  _ did _ make a run for it. Or tried to, at least. Steve grabbed their arm at the last second. 

“You look a little young to be an agent,” he quipped. 

Now that the kid was out, they both saw that it was a little girl, no older than six from the looks of it. She had tear tracks down her face and was attempting to yank her arm away from Steve. 

“Kids are usually a lot more excited when they realize they’re talking to Captain America,” said Bucky. “Unless you’re here hiding from something. Did you break some rules? Is that why you’re in here?” The kid’s face hardened - which was impressive, given the fact that she was (probably) six- but she stopped trying to pull away. “What’s your name?” 

“Ally,” she said. 

“How old are you, Ally?” asked Steve, kneeling to her level.

She held up her hand. “Five.” 

“Five,” repeated Steve. “What’s a five-year-old doing in a supply closet?” 

She swiped at her face. “Nothing.” 

“Well, it looked to me like she was hiding,” said Bucky, “and crying. This looks like a pretty bad place to cry, honestly. No blankets or anything.” 

The kid pouted. “Were you hiding, Ally?” asked Steve. 

She nodded and her bottom lip began to wobble. 

“Was it part of a game?” 

She shook her head. “Jacob said it was, but he lied.” 

“Jacob, huh? Who’s he, your brother?” asked Steve, picking up the girl so she was on his side. 

Ally shook her head, tears beginning to enter her dark brown eyes again. “He’s  _ Crystal’s  _ brother. Crystal was supposed to watch us, she’s sixteen and she’s a junior agent, but she met a  _ boy _ , and she said since Jacob’s ten he can watch me for a little bit. But she said we had to stay in our apartment and Jacob wanted to sneak around and he said it was a game but it wasn’t. And he stole one of Crystal’s knives and he cut my braid and it wasn’t fun anymore.” She reached back and felt her brunette curls, which Bucky realized then were, in fact, choppily cut. “And then he put the knife back and he said no one was gonna believe me ‘cause I’m five and he’s ten and everyone knows five year olds are liars.” 

So an irresponsible sixteen-year-old and a cruel ten-year-old were at fault. “Well, Jacob sounds like a bully,” said Steve, “and I really don’t like bullies.”

“You don’t think five-year-olds are liars?” asked Ally. 

“Nah. There’s too many five-year-olds for all of them to be liars,” said Bucky. “I think we should find Jacob and Crystal.” 

“But Crystal’s with a  _ boy _ ,” said Ally, as if that were a perfectly reasonable explanation for the teenager to abandon her responsibility. “He said he was going to show her around, and I think that’s silly because Crystal already knows everywhere except where the avengers live because that’s locked.” Ally paused. “You’re really Captain America?” 

“Yeah,” said Steve, beginning to walk out the closet. The hall was empty. They should probably go back to the main area and ask around. 

“Where’s your shield?” wondered the little girl. “You can’t be Captain America without a shield.” 

Steve shared a smile with Bucky. Kid logic. “Well, I guess I’m Steve Rogers right now, if that’s the case.” 

She nodded. “That means you’re really Bucky.” 

He nodded. 

Ally frowned. “My godmothers said I should stay ten feet away from you two.”

Well then. That didn’t sound good. “Did they?” said Steve slowly. “And why is that?” 

“Well Auntie Maria said you’re a bad influence ‘cause you hafta lie to the public so you’re not in trouble.” Well, whoever Auntie Maria was, she wasn’t wrong. “But Auntie Nat says I should stay away because all the boy Avengers have su-per-or-ity complexes and too much test… Test-something is bad for little girls,” Ally attempted to explain. “But she said it’s okay in an emergency. Do you think this counts?” 

Bucky stopped, pulling Steve to a halt with him so he could face Ally. He tilted her chin up. “Does your Auntie Nat have red hair?” 

Ally nodded. “And white, too,” she added, “but not cause she’s old, ‘cause she wanted it.” 

Bucky exchanged a look with Steve. Natasha had recently added platinum highlights to her hair. “Have you ever been to the Avenger’s part of the compound?” asked Steve. 

Ally paused. “No.” 

The answer was uncharacteristically short for the otherwise chatty little girl. “Are you sure?” asked Bucky. “I promise if you tell me I can keep a secret.” 

She held up her pinky. Bucky fought down his grin as he hooked his pinkie with hers. “Auntie Nat took me when my mom and dad were on the- on a mission,” she disclosed, her voice a dramatic whisper, “but she said I can’t tell anyone, especially mom and dad, and not Crystal or Jacob, or their mom or dad, or  _ anyone  _ except Auntie Maria, because Auntie Maria makes the best cupcakes in the whole world, but only if I ask nicely.” 

If Auntie Nat was Natasha, then Auntie Maria must’ve been… “Maria Hill?” asked Steve. Ally nodded. 

Little Ally was Maria Hill and Natasha Romanoff’s goddaughter. “Well, that makes our job easier. Let’s go find your Auntie Nat,” said Bucky. 

“But she says I’m not supposed to be with you guys unless it’s an emergency,” protested Ally. “She’s gonna get mad at me.” 

“She won’t,” said Steve confidently. “This counts as an emergency.” Of sorts. 

Ally was quiet for a while, but Bucky caught her looking at his arm as they walked. He didn’t mention it though, and Ally didn’t say anything. 

Steve and Bucky were lucky (or perhaps unlucky) that Natasha and Maria were both in the Avengers living room.    
  
“Auntie Maria! You’re back!” Ally called out, squirming down from Steve’s grip. Steve set her onto the ground.

“Allison?” The two agents questioned as she ran to them. Ally threw her arms around Maria, who lifted her up. 

“Hi, Auntie Nat.”

“What are you doing here?” asked Natasha. “You’re supposed to be with Crystal. And what happened to your hair?” 

Ally grew distraught. “Steve and Bucky said you wouldn’t be mad ‘cause it was an emergency.” 

Natasha gave the super soldiers a look. “I’m not mad, just confused. What happened?” 

“We found her crying in one of the supply cabinets,” said Steve. “We were going to look for her parents but she mentioned that her Auntie Nat said she should stay away from us because we have superiority complexes.” Steve raised accusatory eyebrows in her direction. She simply smirked. “A few questions later and here we are.” 

“Both of her parents are on a mission,” said Maria. “Which is why  _ you _ , little lady, are supposed to be with Crystal.” 

“But Crystal is with a boy,” cried Ally, “and she left me and Jacob, and Jacob cut my hair. And he said it was a game but it  _ wasn’t  _ and he was  _ mean _ . And he said no one would believe me because five-year-olds are liars, but Bucky said there’s too many five-year-olds for everyone to be liars. Do you think that’s true?” 

“Slow down, myshka,” ordered Natasha. “Jacob cut your hair?” 

Ally nodded. “With Crystal’s knife that she hides in the bottom of her bookshelf, the fancy rainbow one, because we were playing spies. But it wasn’t fun because mommy says not to play with real spy things and I told him. And he called me a baby and pulled on my braid really hard and it hurted. And now I’m not pretty anymore.” 

“Yes you are, Ally,” said Maria patiently. “We can trim your hair so it looks nice. Auntie Nat had short hair too. And don’t you say Auntie Nat is always pretty?” 

Ally stopped to consider the question before nodding and reaching out for Natasha, who took the girl in her arms. 

“Thank you both for bringing her here,” said Maria. “We can handle it.” 

“Are you sure?” said Steve. “Because if you two want to go find Crystal and Jacob, Bucky and I can watch Ally. Or the other way around.” 

Natasha rolled her eyes. “We can handle this, Rogers.” 

“Alright,” he grumbled. “Ally, if anyone else bullies you, you can come to me or Bucky, okay? No more hiding in supply closets.” 

“Yeah,” said Bucky. “It’s much cozier hiding out over here, isn’t it? Supply closets are a bad place to cry.” 

Ally nodded and hugged Natasha. 

“Okay, Myshka, let’s go to my room for a bit,” said Natasha. “We can get you cleaned up and fix your hair.” 

Natasha prompted Ally to say goodbye and thank you to the two super soldiers. Then, the pair took their leave.

“So whose kid is she?” Bucky asked Maria. 

“Amelia and Matt Clawson’s. You worked with them on the Grey Padalin mission. Matt was on Steve’s team, Amelia on yours.” 

Bucky thought back. “I didn’t realize they had a kid.” 

“Well, they do,” said Maria. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go find Jacob and Crystal.” 

Steve and Bucky exchanged a look as she departed. “Guess we should get back to work, then,” said Bucky. 

So they continued the conversation they’d been having when they walked past Ally’s hiding spot as if nothing had happened. 

That was how they’d met Allison Clawson. 


End file.
